
Charles A. Hyde
Charles A. Hyde is a native Hoosier and grew up in Indianapolis. He majored in history at Hanover College and spent his senior year at the University of Oxford in England. After graduation, Charlie jumped directly into the non-profit field with an eight-year tenure at Conner Prairie Interactive History Park. From 2007-2014, he served as the Indianapolis Zoo’s Director of Membership & Engagement, posting an impressive multi-million dollar revenue increase and helping direct the zoo’s innovative public campaign efforts to promote the “new team in town” of orangutans. Since September 2014, Hyde has served the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site as its president & CEO. He has led the organization forward as it has developed multiple 5-year strategic plans, setting itself the ambitious challenge to become recognized as, “the most innovative, impactful, and civically engaged presidential site in the United States”. During his tenure, the Presidential Site has experienced significant growth, increasing attendance and receiving national attention for its Future Presidents of America and Project POTUS initiatives, groundbreaking New Century 3D eCollection, and Emmy-award winning documentary A President at the Crossroads (which has now aired more than 1,200 times on over 200 public media stations nationally). Most recently, Hyde has successfully spearheaded the $6.8 million “Old Glory, New Vision” capital campaign, restoring the National Historic Landmark and transforming the grounds for visitor engagement and accessibility. He is a past president of the Indianapolis Consortium of Arts Administrators (ICAA), serves on multiple civic and cultural boards, including the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee (GIPC), Hoosier Art Salon, and National Sculpture Society. Charlie Hyde and his wife Samantha have two sons, and in his leisure time engages in wide ranging interests, including as an amateur sculptor, kayaker and avid reader.


He made a million dollars before his 26th birthday and spent it all – not on himself or his family – but on a cause. Before age 30 he “had the ear” of Senators, Industrial Giants, University Presidents and entry into Congressional Hearings, Union Halls and the Boardrooms of America. A peasant invited to dine with aristocracy, Brian Bex is the American version of the commoner in the company of royalty, where an individual is judged on merit, not birth. 





